In addition, he has composed and written songs for many singers including Hiromi Iwasaki, Misia, Toshinori Yonekura, Kyōko Koizumi, and many other recording artists.
[3] Kubota's musical genre has varied throughout his career including R&B, Go-go, soul, funk, blues, reggae, old skool, psychedelia, jazz, and pop.
His artistic influences include Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, and Sly Stone.
He is among the all-time best-selling Japanese music artists, having sold over 16 million records worldwide to date.
At a young age, he came in possession of Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life album.
By winning the contest, Kubota earned a record deal for his band to release their own music.
By the mid-1980s, Kubota began to compose for various artists like Iwasaki Hiromi, Koizumi Kyoko, and Tahara Toshihiko.
In April 1987, Kubota released his second album, Groovin', which spawned the singles "Randy Candy", "Psychic Beat", "Daiyamondo no Inutachi", "Kitakaze to Taiyō", and "Eien no Tsubasa".
The single also sold over 100,000 units in Japan, reaching gold certification status.
In January 1989, the second single "Indigo Waltz", which featured American-singer Lynn Davis, was released.
In September 1991, Kubota released his fifth album, Kubojah: Parallel World I, which peaked at number 1 on the Oricon charts.
In November 1994, Kubota released the lead single "Yoru ni Dakarete (A Night in Afro Blue)" from his upcoming seventh album.
[4] The album's lead single, "Funk It Up", was released along with the song "Nice & EZ" in the United States.
In November 2001, Kubota released the lead single "Candy Rain" from his upcoming album.
The album featured the singles "Breaking Through", "Living for Today", "Hold Me Down", and "Shadows of Your Love".
In April 2005, Kubota released the lead single "A Love Story" from his album "For Real?
In July 2006, he released a duet single with SunMin called "Keep Holding U", which was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Nihon Chinbotsu.
In March 2008, Kubota released another single, "Flying Easy Loving Crazy", a duet song with Misia.
"Flying Easy Loving Crazy" was the second in a series of collaborative singles released by Kubota.
"Flying Easy Loving Crazy" debuted on the Oricon Daily Singles chart at number 10 and peaked at number 18 on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart, with 6,071 copies sold in its first week.
Shortly after the release of the album, Kubota began the "Timeless Fly Tour" in Japan.
On 7 October 2011, the concert tour began at Misato City Culture Hall in Saitama, Japan.
On 15 May 2013, Kubota announced that his seventeenth album, Kubossa: Parallel World II, would be released in July 2013.
Kubota incorporates guitar, piano, percussion, into a majority of his song and often writes about love, heartbreak, and the celebration and humor of life.
He has cited several musicians as his inspirations, including Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Donny Hathaway.
He began experimenting with other genres, including reggae, go-go, psychedelic soul, funk, and rock music, in his latter albums, Kubojah: Parallel Word I, Bonga Wanga, Bumpin' Voyage, and Nothing But Your Love.
Karen Hunter of New York Daily News stated "He speaks with an accent, but sings in pure funk.
Toshi Kubota, the Japanese soul sensation, blends the old sounds of Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder and even Luther Vandross with an up-to-date smoothed-out funk a la D'Angelo.
"[18] Time magazine states "Kubota's favored '70s retro-glam ward-robe emphasizes the mood of the music he loves".
[19] Kubota is listed as one of Japan's best-selling artists, having sold over 16 million records worldwide.